


My Beautiful

by Kajune



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Love Confessions, M/M, Romance, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-05 07:43:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16363754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kajune/pseuds/Kajune
Summary: Note: Both the title and rating might change.





	1. Chapter 1

The spearman in blue takes an aim for his heart, thrusting Gae Bolg forward faster than one could blink. Archer had just blocked a nasty attack from above and his arms were still in the air, both of his swords unable to come back down to block this next attack in time.

He doesn’t need to though, for Lancer halts his movement and the spear remains less than an inch from Archer’s chest, dangerously close to where a frantic heart is beating. Archer shows none of the terror on his face, remaining blank while Lancer displays a victorious grin on his face.

Archer supposes Lancer has won this match.

“Got’cha, bowman,” Lancer proclaims as he eases away from his opponent.

It was rare for Archer and Lancer to get into physical fights nowadays, what with their respective Masters being against fighting and there being a particularly nosy priest lurking around at night in an effort to snoop out rule breakers.

Tonight was a lucky night because said priest was out of town on an important errand (taking with him Caren and a fussy blond). Archer’s Master, Rin, was also fast asleep from too much playing around today to even notice what her Servant was doing.

Though she would likely have an easy time figuring out the truth if she ever saw the craters in the ground, the various cuts and one dark bruise on Archer’s form, which is why Archer wouldn’t be caught dead looking so beaten up in front of Rin.

Lancer, on the other hand, is Caren’s Servant, so he doesn’t need to worry about appearances in order to keep their favorite activity a secret. In fact, unlike Archer, Lancer looks like he could go for two more rounds before he starts looking even a tiny bit worn out. Granted, Lancer doesn’t need that much mana to fight and he has been known to get carried away during battles, leaving him oblivious to how long his body can keep going.  

To top it off, he had won this match.

“Yeah, you did.”

Archer isn’t one to admit defeat, but he feels like throwing Lancer a bone after ending their previous fights with draws. His “Eye of the Mind” ability makes it easier to counter Lancer’s attacks or at least the attacks he’s familiar with; Lancer is good at adapting and coming up with new tricks, and Archer doesn't always manage to avoid getting hit. This victory was achieved fairly by Lancer and he deserves to be acknowledged.

However, Archer will remember that latest trick and make sure Lancer won’t be able to use it next time.

Gae Bolg disappears into nothingness along with Archer’s twin swords. The two stand there for a while, letting the excitement of the fight fade away, leaving Archer calmer and Lancer bored.

“You look like a mess,” Lancer points out.

Archer doesn’t argue, even if he’s not exactly happy Lancer felt the urge to point out the obvious. He feels as wreaked as he looks, but he justifies his pitiful state by reminding himself that Gae Bolg isn’t an easy spear to block and a near-impossible spear to dodge.

He doesn’t say that out loud though, preferring the comfortable silence over their usual banter. Only then Archer notices that tonight the moon is nearly full, surrounded by hundreds of stars that light up the night sky.

It’s a rare, pleasant sight. The sight of it brings a smile to Archer’s face.

The light reflecting off the moon’s surface does well to illuminate Lancer’s features too. Archer momentarily stares at the spearman, completely mesmerized by the latter’s red eyes and soft blue hair. He’s never going to admit it, but Archer has always believed the tales of Cu Chulainn were not exaggerating when they described this man as beautiful.

Lancer’s attention is also on the sky, and he too is wearing a gentle smile. He fails to notice the staring (fortunately) and Archer wouldn’t really mind if the two of them just stood like this for an hour or so.

Unfortunately, their peaceful, post-fight relaxation gets disturbed by Lancer.

“Mind cooking something tonight, Archer?”

Archer sighs. He should have been expecting that question.

“You want to eat again? Seriously, you’re as bad as Saber,” who is a big fan of asking him that question almost every time they cross paths. In Archer’s opinion, the task of feeding the King of Knights should be left to the King of Knights’s Master, not him.

Lancer pouts, as if offended by the notion.

“I am not!” He insists. “I just find your cooking delicious.” Just like everyone else who has tried Archer’s cooking, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. “Besides, what else are you going to do for the rest of the evening?”

Archer won’t admit that he’ll probably keep searching for dusty spots in the Tohsaka mansion until the sun emerges from the horizon. His lack of a more manly hobby is not something he’s going to reveal.

Sadly, this leaves him without a proper excuse to not cook food for Lancer.

It isn’t that he doesn’t like cooking for Lancer’s sake, he just doesn’t see the point of cooking so often for someone who doesn’t even need to eat. Archer also has to spend his allowance from Rin to buy the ingredients for cooking as well, and Lancer rarely bothers to pay back the costs for the food he so eagerly wants.

Archer’s tempted to demand repayment, but deep down, he doesn’t actually mind.

He has a soft spot for Lancer.

“Well? What are you going to do?”

Archer snaps out of his thoughts and notices Lancer staring curiously at him. He’s titling slightly to the side, giving the impression of a cat trying to assess its owner’s behavior.

Funny how he is able to compare “Culann’s Hound” to a feline.

“Something more productive, I’m sure,” Archer claims.

To his dismay, Lancer isn’t the tinniest bit convinced and a confident grin spreads across his face. Actually, it’s a cheeky, cheshire cat-like grin that reminds Archer how Lancer may have just won _two_ battles today.

“Seriously, you’re bad at lying.” A chuckle. “Just make me something simple. I’ll help you wash the dishes if you agree.”

Persistent and sneaky, like a cat.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

In truth, Archer has never managed to deny Lancer the pleasure of eating a well-cooked meal.

“Nope!”

A dramatic spin, and off the blue spearman goes in the direction of the mansion. Archer is a little worried about leaving the battlefield in this sorry state, the thought of _anyone_ seeing the damage and accusing him of breaking the rules takes away any urge he might have about going home.

Too bad Lancer is far away, as expected of a Servant known for his unparalleled speed, or his uncanny similarities to a cat.

Archer hopes Lancer realizes he’s not following and will double back to their battlefield, while Archer materializes a shovel and starts hiding the evidence of their fight. With or without the nosy priest around, he still can’t risk news somehow reaching the priest about evidence of bad behavior.

As hoped, Lancer does return, slowly and unhappily. No words need to be said for Lancer to gesture for a shovel so he can help. It’s a tedious job that neither want to do but the consequences drive them to keep going. Fear of the priest’s rumored punishments, which are said to be “a fate worse than death,” also serves as a motivator.

Though after a moment or so, Archer becomes less motivated to hide the craters and occasional deep footprints out of fear when his eyes notice the moonlight enhancing Lancer’s beauty again. It’s a breathtaking sight and one he gets to see a little longer thanks to the mess.

He’s secretly grateful, and spends the rest of the shoveling process showing it on his face.

The smile is there long enough for Lancer to notice.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Rin arrives at the Tohsaka mansion at about ten in the morning. She looks disheveled, slightly out of breath, with traces of tiredness on her features that one would expect from someone who habitually wakes up at nine. In about two seconds, Rin pushes against the drowsiness and marches over to the kitchen counter with a perfectly fabricated air of mirth.

Archer, from his spot behind the counter, merely greets her with a mild look of surprise. She does deserve some praise for fully hiding her discomfort, but he doesn’t feel like behaving openly nice just yet.

He’s more concerned with why she’s here.

“Hey Archer!” Rin enthusiastically calls. “I need you to do me a favor.”

Archer’s back stiffens. He’s aware that Rin had just walked all the way from the Emiya residence, home to Saber and Saber’s Master, as well as herself. This fact points to the possibility that she wants him to do something that involves one or both of her housemates, and Archer isn’t eager to help out either of them with anything.

He has nothing against Saber personally, but favors for her tend to involve Archer cooking her food, and he would like to be rid of that responsibility already. He is more than ready to say ‘no’ to anything Rin asks if it involves Saber’s Master, however.

Rin doesn’t notice his apprehension and cheerfully voices out her desire.

“Buy me these ingredients,” She hands him a small piece of paper. “I need them by the afternoon, around three, okay?”

Archer frowns. This has to do with cooking again, doesn’t it?

“Why not buy these yourself, Rin?”

Rin brushes some hair off her shoulder, a gesture that usually conveys great confidence. She probably thinks she has a really good reason for dumping this mundane task on him.

“I promised Saber and Shirou that we would go to the water park today, so I don’t have the time to go shopping.”

He’s almost too afraid to ask but he does anyway.

“And what are these ingredients for?”

Rin stares at him, momentarily baffled.

“For cooking,” When Archer doesn’t react, Rin realizes her Servant had figured out that much. “Shirou is going to teach me how to cook hamburgers.”

She explains, sounding rather excited. Archer tries to ignore her and focus on the list, which he could tell from a glance was for hamburgers since he’s cooked them before, but he wasn’t sure why Rin would want anything to do with Western food; she’s always cooked Chinese food.

He was afraid that someone – namely him – was expected to cook hamburgers for Saber, although the real reason isn’t that much better.

Archer sighs. He doesn’t regret asking, but he does dislike the fact that Rin still has the gall to ask him to get involved, however indirectly, in Shirou’s daily life. He cares about her, but sometimes Rin needs to stop thinking he will do anything she asks because she’s his Master.

He’s more than ready to reject Rin’s request, no reason given, until a sudden, unexpected gasp stops him.

“What happened to my favorite cup? How did it get broken?”

Archer looks over his shoulder at a rather expensive cup, which he remembers accidentally dropping last night while doing the dishes. Normally, he’d repair something if he had broken it himself, but he couldn’t dare to hide his shameful mistake after the last time he broke something and repairing it didn’t cheer the person up.

That person was a complete stranger, who made it very clear that he will never forgive himself for failing to prevent someone from knocking his late girlfriend’s beloved camera from his hands.

It didn’t help matters at all that Archer was quick and successful in restoring the camera to perfect condition. The man simply began to weep, ignoring Archer entirely.

It was accident, bumping into that man had definitely not been on Archer’s to-do-list.

The fact that he did so anyway fills him with shame.

Judging from Rin’s expression, she is about to shame him for daring to break something precious to _her_. Archer feels like he deserves to be yelled at. Accident or not, Archer could have avoided both incidents of breaking things if only he had been paying attention to his surroundings and focusing on what he was doing.

Both incidents featured the same, very irresistible individual.

Which isn’t at all a good excuse, in Archer’s opinion.

“It was an accident,” Archer confesses.

Rin pouts at him in anger.

“That was my mother’s favorite cup too, you know,” Rin reminds him, voice now lacking the warmth it had earlier. Archer bows his head slightly. He’s fully aware that the cup was also a family heirloom in Rin’s eyes, which is partially why he thinks it was stupid of him to even use it for drinks last night.

He should have anticipated an accident like this, the chances of the cup shattering on the floor with pieces of it scattered. Archer hadn’t been thinking straight when he removed it from the shelves.

His thoughts were certainly elsewhere.

Rin slams her hand onto the counter top.

“You’re going to have to repay me for that one, Archer.”

Archer expected no less from his rather demanding Master. He just hopes the punishment has nothing more to do with her boyfriend.

“I want you to find an identical replacement and buy it with your own money, and you must complete the task by the end of today.” She orders, before remembering something. Archer is a bit unnerved when a small smile adorns her face. “Do it while you’re buying the ingredients, alright?”

Which reminds him…

“Rin, I never agreed to follow through with your request.”

He dreads the idea of Rin ignoring his half-plea and making him go shopping for two things anyway. To his dismay, Rin does just that.

“Then consider it as part of your punishment, Archer.”

She crosses her arms, silently ending the conversation without leaving room for Archer to complain. He doesn’t attempt to do so, however, because Rin is right. Not to mention, Archer isn’t receiving the worst of punishments a Master could deliver onto their Servant and Archer actually can replace the cup and not worry about Rin “eternally resenting” him like the man with the camera is probably doing.

Archer nods in acceptance.

“I will do as you say.”

He sounds like a perfectly obedient Servant, which he is not, but for today he might as well be. Rin clearly appreciates his change in demeanor and smiles mirthfully at him once more.

“Good. See you at Shirou’s house this afternoon. Bye!”

With that, Rin is gone.

The silence is palpable, almost as a reminder that Archer is alone in his miserable tasks.

He doesn’t think he can keep letting Rin dump odd jobs on him, but after spending the entire night hunting for dusty parts of the mansion and recognizing last night that such is not a good hobby at all, Archer tries to be optimistic about it.

There’s also the fact that the day could have started out much worse, considering how he had been fighting last night and was, for a time, covered in bruises. Rin would not have been as merciful in her demands if she had somehow discovered his secret activity.

Archer _could_ argue that the punishment is bad enough, since he is to visit the Emiya residence and most likely encounter Saber’s Master, Shirou. Archer’s lack of fondness for the kid is so severe he is rather convinced he has a reflex for hurting Shirou.

By reminding himself that he is not expected to stay long, Archer lets his irritation fade away.

Turning around, Archer stares at the cup. Much like the heart-shaped pendant Rin once gave him, the cup was a reminder of Rin’s late parents. His own carelessness is why he must find an exact replica in approximately five hours, and though the task isn’t impossible, Archer is afraid failing.

He doesn’t want Rin to hate him.

Like every other bothersome thought, Archer pushes it aside and prepares to leave the mansion.

A very unexciting day awaits him.

 


End file.
